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From Fatima Bulla in DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania
The United Nations body responsible for gender equality and women’s empowerment has called on African journalists to seize the power they wield through the pen to document positive stories of women on the continent.

While women are at the heart of development in Africa, UN Women expressed concern that their portrayal in African media resulted in negative narratives, which have stereotyped them as victims on the margins of developmental issues.

In order to change media perceptions, UN Women launched the African Women Changing the Narrative project in 2015. Its East African offices last week brought together African journalists for a four-day training workshop in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam.

The capacity building project, supported by a three-year grant from the Austrian Development Cooperation, equips journalists to pursue stories that highlight developmental contributions and innovations made by African women through their leadership capacities.

Speaking on the opening day of the programme, UN Women’s Tanzania representative, Ms Hodan Addou, said it was the role of the media to change the narrative of African women which often was hijacked by stereotypes and biased narratives.

“In reality, African women are more than mere by-standers to development; they are proven agents of change; leaders and innovators responsible for many of the positive developments,” she said.

“However, their stories are unheard and their names unknown. For such initiatives to deliver worthwhile results, we need the support, contribution and commitment of the media through all its platforms. The media is our key partner in ending gender-biased reporting on women and girls.”

During the training, the journalists were introduced to key gender concepts, gender stereotypes in media and how to prevent them.

Participants were taught how to frame news stories to reflect gender dynamics, particularly with regards on the use of photographs and page design.

According to a 2015 report by the Global Media Monitoring Project, women made up only 24 percent of the persons heard, read about or seen in newspapers, televisions and radio news, exactly as they did in 2010.